Diplomatic Briefing

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Archive for January 17, 2023

Newsline: Top Iranian Diplomat travels to Turkey

January 17, 2023 at 9:02 am · Filed under Turkey and tagged: , , ,

Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amirabdollahian traveled to Turkey on Tuesday for a series of political and economic negotiations with the senior officials of the neighboring country. Heading a political delegation, the Iranian foreign minister left Tehran for Ankara on Tuesday morning. Amirabdollahian is expected to hold talks with the Turkish officials about the political, economic and cultural relations between the two neighbors as well as the major regional and international issues. (https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2023/01/17/2838395/top-iranian-diplomat-in-turkey-for-political-talks) In a meeting in Tehran in November 2022, the interior ministers of Iran and Turkey weighed plans for cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism and in ensuring security along the common border.

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Newsline: Barbados ambassador calls on UK to apologise for slavery

January 17, 2023 at 8:58 am · Filed under Barbados and tagged: , , ,

A Barbados ambassador has called for the British government and royal family to apologise for slavery and pay reparations following the Church of England’s admission of its involvement in past atrocities. David Comissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), addressed the church’s “groundbreaking” developments in disclosing its involvement in the mass enslavement of African people, as the Caribbean nation continues to push for reparatory justice. (https://www.independent.co.uk/world/barbados-monarchy-slavery-uk-government-b2262951.html) Mr Comissiong is the deputy chairperson of the country’s National Task Force on Reparations. Barbados was the birthplace of the British slave society and was most ruthlessly colonised between 1636–1876. The Church of England’s investment fund’s “shameful” historic links to transatlantic slavery were laid bare in a full report on Tuesday, prompting it to announce £100 million of funding for a programme of investment, research and engagement to try to “address past wrongs”.

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Newsline: UN envoy encouraged by Yemen truce

January 17, 2023 at 8:31 am · Filed under UN and tagged: , , ,

The United Nations envoy for Yemen said on Monday he was encouraged by intensified efforts for an expanded truce deal but stressed they should seek an inclusive process for a sustainable political settlement. Hans Grundberg, addressing a U.N. Security Council briefing more than three months after an initial truce pact expired, said “we are witnessing a potential step change” in the conflict’s trajectory though the situation remained “complex and fluid”. Grundberg, speaking from the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, thanked Saudi Arabia and Oman for their diplomacy and said discussions in the past month have developed “options for mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding issues”. But he advised against a “piecemeal approach” focused on individual needs, saying talks on short-term steps should be part of a broader approach toward a sustainable resolution of a multifaceted conflict in which several parties are vying for power. (https://neuters.de/world/middle-east/un-envoy-encouraged-by-yemen-truce-deal-efforts-warns-against-piecemeal-approach-2023-01-16/) The eight-year-old conflict between a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthi group, the de facto authorities in North Yemen, has killed tens of thousands of people, wrecked the economy and pushed millions into hunger. A U.N.-brokered truce deal agreed in April and rolled over twice delivered the longest stretch of relative calm that has largely held since its expiry on Oct. 2, though the two sides stepped up an economic war.

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